The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical systems that have support assemblies for holding electrical connectors in place within the electrical systems.
Electrical communication systems, such as network systems, servers, data centers, and the like, include a multitude of electrical connectors and devices arranged at different locations within the communication system. For example, electrical connectors may be arranged as midplane assemblies and backplane assemblies within the system to interconnect daughtercards, line cards, switch cards, and the like. To provide high speed and high density data transfer within the electrical communication system, some of the electrical connectors may be cable-mounted connectors that convey data through lengths of cables.
Thermal management of electrical communication systems is problematic, especially as the amount of data transferred and transfer speeds increase. For example, fans or other air movers may be installed to provide air flow through the electrical communication system to dissipate heat generated by the electrical devices. But, the multitude of electrical devices, connectors, support structures, and cables within the system may block and/or restrict air flow. Due to obstructions that block air flowing front to back through the electrical communication system, electrical devices such as processors (e.g., central processing units (CPUs)) located at a back of the electrical communication system may not receive sufficient air flow to dissipate generate heat, resulting in overheating and degraded operation of the electrical devices.
A need remains for a connector support assembly that enables unimpeded air flow through the connector support assembly to reduce air flow obstructions within an electrical communication system.